Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Health insurance scheme in limbo

N.J. Nair

Central aid only for 11 lakh families

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The fate of the health scheme drawn up by the State Government for 25 lakh families living below the poverty line (BPL) has been sealed with the Centre reiterating its stance that the assistance would be limited to 11 lakh families identified by the Planning Commission.

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said 14 lakh families were not eligible for the assistance to be provided under Universal Health Insurance Scheme (UHIS). Official sources told The Hindu that Mr. Chidambaram categorically stated the Centre's stand in a letter to Minister for Local Self-Government Paloli Mohammed Kutty on March 6.

Mr. Chidambaram's communication was in reply to a clarification sought by Mr. Paloli Mohammed Kutty regarding the eligibility criteria for BPL families as identified under the Kudumbashree scheme on January 23.

"I would like to mention that the coverage under UHIS is available to BPL families as identified by the State Government. However, the subsidy from Government of India would be capped at the level of BPL population of the State as estimated by the Planning Commission," Mr. Chidambaram noted.

Since the proposal was to run the scheme with the support of UHIS, the Local Self-Government Department has started exploring alternatives for the scheme devised by the previous UDF Government. The scheme, which was to be implemented through Local Self-Government institutions, can be launched only in association with public sector insurance companies. The New India Assurance Company and the United India Insurance Company have already come forward. But the premium rate for a family will be much higher than Rs.399 fixed by the previous Government.

According to the earlier scheme, Rs.300 was to be provided by the Centre under UHIS and Rs.99 to be shared equally by the beneficiaries, State Government and the panchayat. Those joining the scheme would get complete medical care from a network of Government and private hospitals with which the company had a tie-up. Rs.1 lakh would be given to the families of those who die in accidents and Rs.50,000 for partial disability. The maximum annual health care for a family was fixed at Rs.30,000.

Both public sector companies had informed the Government that the packages were unviable and could not be implemented as such. Hence, the Government would have to rework the packages giving more importance to Government hospitals. This is expected to improve the facilities and also the quality of the medical care provided by the Government hospitals.

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